When you work in real estate, flipping houses is one of the most lucrative projects one can undertake. The idea behind this idea is to buy a home in need of repairs, renovate it, and sell it at its new appraised value. In high school, I worked alongside my mother renovating a house in our small town of Trinidad, Colorado. The invaluable lessons I learned throughout this endeavor gave me insight into the inner workings of house flipping. What I gained from this experience will allow me to make better decisions if I choose to take on another project. With a budget of $150,000, the most important aspects to focus on during a renovation would be updating appliances, applying fresh paint, installing proper flooring, and exterior renovation. Assuming the foreclosed home costs $110,000, I would allocate $20,000 of my budget to renovation expenses. This leaves a reserve of $20,000 to use as an emergency fund. First of all, it is essential to take care of household appliances. Appliances are the “age spots” of a house. Due to planned obsolescence, products such as refrigerators and dishwashers are expected to be replaced every ten to fifteen years. This leads to the innovation of new ideas during the manufacturing of the product. For example, when manufacturers introduced stainless steel refrigerators, the once-popular white models with a convenient ice dispenser quickly became obsolete. This illustrates a simple rule: Investing in new appliances is one of the quickest ways to make a home look like the builders recently put the finishing touches and packed up their tools. They instantly modernize the house. This is why new appliances weigh so heavily in a buyer's decision... middle of paper ......ional. Additionally, part of the money will be needed to hire a home inspector before the home goes on the market. The cost of this service varies, but it may be paid for with money from the emergency fund if the home inspector has to make multiple trips to eliminate problems in the home. After renovating the quaint little house on the hill with my mother, my own feelings toward the house changed dramatically. Before the project launched, I was hesitant to set foot inside the building. The smell and dim lighting made it difficult to envision a successful outcome, but once we were finished I was tempted to move in myself. That's the goal. In taking on this second project, I would do my best to make the house I would like to live in without allowing myself to implement my personal style preferences. The result is a home that is both move-in ready and open to visitors..